Plan panel members seek Rs1cr each for research: report

Each member of the Planning Commission might get an annual grant of Rs1 crore to employ consultants for research on projects taken up by the commission, if a proposal to this effect is accepted by the panel.

According to a report, some members of the planning commission have forwarded this proposal to the panel's deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia as part of the exercise to restructure and reform the commission.

"There is a proposal but it is still in the works and no decision has been taken," The Economic Times reported a planning commission member as saying.

The current Planning Commission, which was constituted in 2009, had started with the aim of carrying out internal structural reform to make it more relevant.

The exercise has been led by member Arun Maira, who was inducted into the commission from the Boston Consulting Group.

"The move has been proposed to give members the flexibility to get qualified people for the work we do at the commission if the need arises," added the member quoted by ET. Primarily three members - Arun Maira, Syeeda Hameed and Abhijit Sen - are backing the proposal, the report adds.

However, since the proposal would cost the public exchequer around Rs8 crore excluding members of the commission who are ministers, the proposal is likely to be shelved for the time being. "The quantum of the grant is quite big for the purpose and it is unlikely to be passed in the current scenario," another official told the paper.

The Planning Commission has often been criticised for being monolithic, stagnant and hierarchical, with lack of expert domain knowledge.